Exchange in Focus: HKEX to Launch New Sustainable and Green Exchange
25 June 2020
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced plans to launch the HKEX Sustainable and Green Exchange, ‘STAGE’. This new information platform is the first-of-its kind in Asia, and will act as a central hub for data and information on sustainable and green finance investments in the region.
STAGE will promote the visibility, transparency, and accessibility of sustainable and green finance across asset class and product type. It will provide investors with access to a comprehensive database of sustainable and green investment options that are available on Hong Kong’s securities markets. It will also act as a valuable education and advocacy platform, promoting knowledge sharing and stakeholder engagement in sustainable finance.
“The launch of STAGE demonstrates HKEX’s strong commitment to sustainability. By encouraging issuers, investors, asset managers, market participants and advisors to play an active role in enhancing the sustainable and green finance ecosystem in Hong Kong and the region, we are in turn reinforcing the sustainability of our own market,” said HKEX Head of Green and Sustainable Finance, Grace Hui.
“Our goal is to help issuers raise awareness of their sustainable and green financial products, whilst also offering investors and asset managers easy access to information for their due diligence, selection and monitoring,” said Ms Hui.
In its initial phase, STAGE will be home to a repository of information on sustainability, green and social bonds and ESG-related Exchange Traded Products listed on HKEX. Issuers with products that meet international standards or principles and provide post-issuance reports annually are invited to join STAGE without the need to pay any fees and to display their products on the platform. The online repository will be launched as early as later this year.
HKEX will further develop the platform in response to the evolving market landscape, and over time will consider expanding its coverage to introduce more asset classes and product types, such as derivative products linked to relevant sustainability or environmental, social, and governance indices, as well as other sustainable and green financial products.
There has been considerable growth of sustainable and green investment funding in the region in recent years: Green bond issuances in Asia-Pacific hit record levels in 2019, raising US$18.89 billion, with Mainland China’s green bond market alone accounting for US$8.13 billion1. Hong Kong played a significant role in this development, with the cumulative amount of green bonds arranged and issued in the local market reaching US$26 billion by the end of 2019.
To learn more about STAGE, please visit HKEX website.
SSE and Green Finance
The HKEX is an SSE Official Supporter and has been an SSE Partner Exchange since 2018. The SSE campaign on the growth of green finance depends on both promoting green finance products as well as greening mainstream financial markets.
In alignment with the SSE’s Green Finance Action Plan, the SSE tracks a number of sustainability activities that can help stock exchanges to grow green finance in their market. This includes sustainability bond segments or ESG indices and mainstreaming green through the inclusion of ESG disclosure in listing rules. To know more check the SSE Stock Exchange Database.
About the SSE
The SSE initiative is a UN Partnership Programme organised by UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, UNEP FI and the PRI. The SSE’s mission is to provide a global platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, companies (issuers), regulators, policymakers and relevant international organizations, can enhance performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SSE seeks to achieve this mission through an integrated programme of conducting evidence-based policy analysis, facilitating a network and forum for multi-stakeholder consensus-building, and providing technical assistance and advisory services.
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